Gilan's apprentice years
by Keira-22
Summary: What were Gilan's apprentice years like?  Follow Gilan through his funny moments and his adventures.
1. Chapter 1 runaway

_this is my first story please reveiw tell me if you like it or not and tell me if you have any ideas for it, the second chapter will be up soon._

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><p><strong>Runaway<strong>

"Wake up Gilan," Sir David, Gilan's dad said "you're going to be late to practice."

"Do I have to go can I skip just this once? Please?" Gilan bagged he was tired of sword practice even if it was with the legendary McNeil. It still was boring he wanted to do something else instead of the same old routine.

"No you're going, now get up Gilan!" sir David said starting to get angry. Gilan obeyed he got up and ate breakfast, hurrying to get to class on time as he didn't want to face the anger of his dad or McNeil.

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><p>Slide slash, underhand cut, overhand cut, thrust. Gilan thought as he slashed the feather stuffed mannequin, feathers going everywhere, but soon his mind started wandering. He was imagining shooting a massive longbow like the one his dad's friend, ranger Halt, had. Then the idea struck next time he saw Halt he would follow him and become a ranger! Then he would be able to disappear and-<p>

"Gilan! I said practice is over you are free to go." Gilan snapped back to realty realizing McNeil was talking to him and he sounded angry.

"What? Huh? Oh, yeah well bye." Gilan murmured then got on his horse and began riding back to the castle pulling feathers from his hair as he went.

Gilan was almost to his room when he saw Halt and his dad whispering. But the question was what where they talking about? Oh well it didn't matter since Halt was here he had to pack before he left so he could follow him he was about to enter his room when he heard his dad and Halt talking in louder voices.

"How long will you be staying, Halt?" his father inquired he and Halt paid no attention to the fact that Gilan was listening to their conversation.

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><p>"I will be leaving after dinner, sir." He replied. Gilan smiled he had to hurry and pack but his plan would work.<p>

Gilan had just finished packing when he realized how worried his parents would be when he went missing and they would surely notice if he wasn't seen after dinner.

"What's with the bag?" Gilan's eight year old sister, Neveh had barged into his room. He couldn't lie but if he didn't he would never be able to become a ranger or even have a chance unless-

"Umm…well….I'm…I'm going to…well, follow Halt and try to become his apprentice…Please don't tell mom and dad until tomorrow morning." He stuttered out the sentence.

"Okay…when are you leaving?…dinners ready" she said with a look of sadness appearing on her face.

"After dinner." He replied feeling kind of guilty.

"Oh okay bye." She said disappointed. Gilan would definitely miss her.

"Bye." They were left with an awkward silence both of them trying to think of something to say.

"Well are we going to eat or what?" Gilan said breaking the silence

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><p>It was before first light when Gilan was awoken by a delightful smell he wondered what it was he groaned in pain his back hurt from the bed of rocks he had slept on last night. He now regretted that he hadn't eaten much last night his mind was too busy thinking about his plan to follow Halt. He had also forgotten to pack any food except the few rolls that he had already eaten. His stomach growled the scent of food wasn't helping he had to eat but he couldn't let Halt know he was there or he would send him home for sure and he wouldn't be able to become a ranger or even have the chance. There he thought he would steal some of the food when Halt turned away right as he thought it Halt turned away now! He yelled in his head. Gilan sprinted quietly or so he thought but really thousands of twigs and leafs crackled and crunched beneath his feet but it still was quit silent it would have worked if Halt was normal but unluckily for Gilan he was trained to hear even the slightest of noises. Gilan began getting the soup and pouring some other liquid that Gilan didn't recognize but smelt like the same thing he had smelt earlier he was almost done when an iron grip was on him his hand jerked, spilling the unknown drink.<p>

"Come on boy you spilt my coffee!" Halt said in a mix of disappointment and anger.

"sorrypleasedon'!what'scoffee?" Gilan blurted out in a rush.

"What talk slower, boy!" Halt replied having no clue what Gilan had said, then reached into his pack to get some more coffee beans.

"I said, sorry, please don't send me home I want to stay with you and be your apprentice. What's coffee?" Gilan spoke unusually slow then watched in interest as Halt began making a new pot of coffee.

"You do think I let to follow me here just to send you home do you?" Halt said in shock and putting stress on the word let "And coffee is only the best thing in the world! How could you not know what coffee is?"

"McNeil only let me drink milk and water, he said if I wanted to be a good swordsman then I had to." He explained then with disappointment and shock clear in his voice "You mean you knew I was there the whole time?" He had thought that he had done good staying hidden.

"Well if you're going to be a ranger then you have to love coffee so try some," He said handing Gilan a cup of coffee "of course I heard you, you were as loud as an elephant!"

"OH MY GOSH! The coffee is amazing! You never know there could be a very quiet elephant." Gilan said.

"You expected differently?" Halt replied with one eyebrow raised then took another sip of coffee "even if there are you definitely aren't one of them." Although he did have talent Halt would never tell him that.

"Yes, yes, you're right I'm not an elephant." Gilan said with a completely straight face until five seconds later when he let a giggle out. "So can I be your apprentice?"

"Yes," Halt replied without even having to think "don't worry about your family I already talked to your parents."

"Oh I told my sister to tell them this morning." Gilan said wondering how Halt knew he would follow him, but he didn't care right know he was going to be a ranger!

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><p><em>yeah sorry it's kind of short. The more reviews i get the faster i will finish the next chapter!<em>


	2. A rangers work

_Here it is i hope thischapters better sorryabout the missing part about the stream i never noticed that but i looked back again and did._

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><p><strong><span>a rangers work<span>**

"Now what do we do?" Gilan asked eagerly as they walked into view of the log ranger cabin surrounded by large oak trees.

"Now, you do the house work. So first up is lunch. Do you know how to cook?" Halt replied after sticking a key into the doorknob.

"Umm, well no." Gilan admitted. He looked around the cabin. On the table there were orange tulips. There were four different rooms; the living room, the kitchen, and the other two Gilan assumed were bedrooms but he couldn't be sure as the doors were closed.

"Oh that's ok most boys don't, I'll help you make stew but first go unpack your bedroom is over there." Halt told him and pointed to the room on the right, then walked into the kitchen.

"Now we are going to clean the dishes." Halt said and Gilan began walking to the kitchen to get the dishes he had used to make the stew, then realizing by "we" he had meant "you". He picked up the dishes then carried them out to the stream and had them clean in within ten minutes.

"Not bad." Halt said after he was done inspecting the dishes Gilan had clean.

"Oh." Gilan said disappointed everything he had done so far today got a "not bad" from Halt, personally he thought he had done a pretty good job on his chores. He was dying to do actual ranger stuff and learn how to disappear! He had already asked several times and the conversations went like this;

"Halt I've been thinking…"

"You're an apprentice, you don't need to think." a common reply from Halt. On the second attempt it had went like this;

"Halt, when do I get to learn to disappear and do well rangers work?"

"You're and apprentice, you do apprentice work." Gilan knew if he asked again he would get another answer related to being an apprentice. He started to regret becoming a ranger but then again, it was better than sword practice and the coffee and stew was delicious. He couldn't wait to learn how to do rangers work. When, he wondered, would he learn to shoot and disappear and all the other ranger secrets?

He didn't have to wait long, the next morning Halt took him out to the clearing behind the house.

"These are Ranger weapons." Halt told him as he took a bow and some other items out of a bag.

"Can I try to use the bow?" Gilan asked eagerly.

"If you think that's best." Halt replied it was an answer he had gotten used to after he had tried to make coffee and instead he had burnt himself.

"What do I have to do?" he asked in an annoyed voice.

"Fine, put this on your arm." He replied, sighing in disappointment. Gilan put the sleeve on his arm then picked up the bow that he noticed wasn't as big as Halt's. He put the sleeve on his arm then quickly nocked an arrow into the bow, then aimed and shot. The arrow missed its target by a couple inches. Gilan was about to shoot again but Halt stopped him.

"You can practice that later," now let's go on a walk Halt told Gilan. He showed Gilan how to walk silently and unseen by drifting from shadow to shadow. Halt had to admit that Gilan was pretty good already; he still needed a lot of practice though. Next Halt showed Gilan the ranger knifes.

"This is for throwing." Halt instructed. Then he grabbed his own knife and threw it, launching it into the air until it found its target in a large oak. Gilan watched in awe. By the end of the day Gilan had a cloak, knives, and a bow with two dozen arrows.

"Want to go on a walk?" Halt asked after Gilan had been shooting for a while.

"Sure." Gilan replied sensing that it was more of a command then a question.

After they had been walking for a good half hour Halt stopped and Gilan followed suit.

"What's that?" Halt asked and pointed to the ground.

Gilan looked down then said "An animal print."

"Yes but what made it?" Halt asked with one eyebrow raised.

"A beaver?" Gilan replied unsurely.

"Are you asking a question or answering one?" Halt asked.

"A beaver," Gilan repeated more confidently.

"Yes, very good for your first day," Halt replied wondering if he had boosted Gilan ego just a little too much.

The next day after Gilan had made coffee and eggs for breakfast he headed out side to practice with his throwing knife. The knife landed near the bulls eye each time, except once when it hit the bulls eye. Gilan had only been practicing for a couple of minutes when Halt came out.

"Want to go on a walk?" Halt asked.

Once again Gilan sensed it was a command. "Ok," Gilan replied. They took an unfamiliar path, Gilan noted. On the way Halt would ask Gilan about a track or tell him to disappear. After about an hour they came into sight of an old stable beside a house.

"Hullo, Bob," Halt called out. An older man came out of the house. Gilan guested he was in his late forties.

"Hello Ranger," Bob replied. "Who is this boy you have brought me here."

"I'm Gilan, sir." Gilan answered for Halt.

"He calls me sir." Bob said, bursting with laughter. Gilan blushed, growing up in a castle Gilan had always been taught to call every one sir or miss, except his family of course.

"So do you have a good horse for him?" Halt asked.

"Hmm," Bob said thinking about it, or at least pretending to Gilan amended. "I got just the one!" he walked over to the stable and got a shaggy bay horse

"What's its name?" Gilan asked eagerly.

"This un' here, he's name is Blaze he 'ill out run all those battle horses." Bob said.

"Can I ride him?" Gilan asked he was getting a ranger horse sure he had rode horses before but not a ranger horse and this one was his.

"If you think that's a good idea." Halt replied grimly. Gilan paused, and then decided; what's the worst that can happen? After all he had ridden plenty of horses before. Gilan mounted onto the small bay then waited for something to happen. For a few seconds nothing happened, then the horse's front legs went up, Gilan fell backwards of the horse. Gilan blushed with anger he slowly got to his feet and was about to try again.

"Those young 'uns always so eager." Bob said

"Gilan don't get on yet, ranger horses are trained so that they can't be stolen, in order to mount one you must know the code." Halt told him

"So what's the code?" Gilan asked intrigued by how smart the animals were.

"This 'un here is 'brown eyes'" Bob answered.

"Brown eyes?" will said

"Not to us to the horse." Halt said with a ghost of a smile on his face. It was an old Ranger joke that most rangers new. Gilan walked over to Blaze.

"Brown eyes." Gilan whispered into the small horse's ear, Blaze nodded as if to say get on all ready. Gilan jumped onto Blaze he waited tensely for him to buck, when nothing happened he drummed his feet against Blaze's sides. Blaze moved forward and walked around the fenced in area.

"You can take 'em out." Bob said then opened the gate. Gilan led Blaze out through the gate then drummed on the bays sides again Blaze sped up. Then Gilan turned the small horse around and headed back to Bob and Halt. Gilan dismounted then grabbed and apple and handed it to the horse.

"There you go." Gilan said and naturally the horse didn't reply.

"I take it you know how to care for a horse?" Halt asked Gilan.

"Yeah," Gilan replied. He had cared for lots of horses at the castle.

"Well then we better get going if we are going to make it before dark." Halt told Gilan. Then they set off (well after Gilan stopped to grab another apple for Blaze later).


	3. Harvest day

**Hi guys I finally updated! Sorry it took so long I kept getting super busy and had an extreme case of writers block (cough cough) lol. I changed my story description due to the fact my brother refuses to read my story unless I change it-hope your reading this now- hope you like this chapter (I know it's a little boring) **

**Harvest day**

"Today, you can have the day off," Halt announced. Gilan could have jumped and screamed with joy. Tomorrow was Harvest day, or at least in redmont where he was living currently. He had heard that there was a fair here and he couldn't wait to see it in person. He also could visit his family today. And see friends he added. Gilan would also be in battle school today but sense he technically lived in redmont now he was also given the day off by McNeil (who he had continued to practice with once a month.

When Gilan arrived home he went inside the castle in search of his family first he found Neveh.

"Hullo, Gil," Neveh called out to him then ran over to him "shouldn't you be at redmont?"

"I have the day off today." Gilan replied.

"Oh so what are you going to do?"

"See mom, dad, try to meet up with my friends, and then go to a fair they have in redmont." Gil replied.

"Oh, cool." Neveh said as should took in Gilan for the first time that day, He was wearing as molted green cloak that tended to blend in with the shadows. He was carrying a recurve bow with a quiver full of arrows.

"Yeah, well see you later." Gilan said.

"Ok, bye." Replied Neveh.

"Bye, Nev." Said Gilan as he walked away in search of his parents who he figured out were in a meeting, so he jumped on Blaze and left to find his friends. Luckily practice had just gotten over.

"Hey, Gil!" Gilan's friend, Cole, yelled out as he caught sight of Gilan. Gilan led the small bay over to him.

"Hi Cole," Gilan replied eagerly.

"So why are you here, I mean no offence, but I thought you were becoming a ranger?" Cole said.

"I have the day off, it's a holiday in Redmont today," Gilan said.

"Oh cool well how long are you going to be here?" Cole asked.

"I don't know, I will probably eat lunch then leave," Gilan answered

"Hey, you should come eat at the inn," Cole offered.

"Ok sounds good," Gilan said accepting the offer, he was eager to see his friends who would probably be there and the food at the inn was the best. Once the two friends reached the inn, to Gilan's delight, three other familiar faces were already at the inn.

"Hi, Gilan," a tall Girl with brown hair said.

"Hi, Emily," Gilan replied.

"Hi, Gil," a brown haired boy and a girl with blonde hair said.

"Hi, Drake, hi, Anna," He replied "So, what did you guys become?"

"I'm a cook," Anna said "Emily's a courier, and Drake is a knight,"

"Cool," Gilan said truth to be told, he already knew most of that.

After eating lunch the friends said their goodbyes and then left the inn.

"Come on, Blaze, only a little bit farther," Gilan whispered to his small horse, who in return neighed as if saying 'I know we have been here before'. After only a few more meters Gilan started seeing the fair, there was tons of stuff; wooden carvings of bottles that you throw balls at to win a prize, hoops to throw around posts, and so much more.

Gilan had decided on trying his luck on the hoop game, even though it was probably rigged. He walked over to the game and waited for the boy ahead of him to go, He was about five years younger than Gilan . The boy was almost done with his three shots when a little girl called him.

"Will, dinner is ready!" She was tall for her age and had long blonde hair.

"Okay, one second, Allyss," Will replied. The brown boy took his last shot then ran over to where the girl stood. Gilan handed the man working the game some money.

"Here are your balls, good luck," He had a big smile plastered to his face and rosy cheeks.

"Thanks," Gilan said, excepting the balls. It was a lot like throwing knifes except the ball was an awkward shape and weight. Acknowledging that Gilan threw the ball similar to how he would throw a knife. He aimed and released, the ball went flying and hit the bottles easily. For a moment the man had a look of shock on his face.

"Good job, lad!" the man said, recovering from his moment of shock "here's your prize,"

"No thank you," Gilan said, he didn't really want a dart set he didn't need a _Velcro_ dart set. Just as Gil was about to go try out the hoop game he heard someone call his name.

"Gilan!" Halt exclaimed, looking more worried than usual. Not good, seeing as Gilan had never seen any emotion in Halt's face.

"What?" Gilan said.

**Oooh what is going to happen next? I will update way sooner than last time IF I get reviews. I am gonna update **_**Ava**_** first 'cuz I'm just evil and want to leave you with a cliff hanger. And to the readers-but-not-reviewers please review! I do love reviews ;D oh and If you review I will read your story if it isn't T or if I haven't even read the series :D. **


	4. Chapter 4 the mission

**I know, I know I took forever to update but I finally am. Thanks for the reviews Raider1472 and The Lone Clapper, I love your reviews they make me want to update and the constructive criticism is super helpful well now I will let you read the new chapter. Please review!**

**Chapter 4: The mission**

"I can't tell you here let's go to the cabin," Halt said briskly.

"Why?" Gilan asked.

"Look around," Halt said gesturing to the people around them "Or did you think the big emergency was that I broke my finger nail?" Gilan gasped and put an "oh no" look on his face.

"You broke your nail?" Gilan exclaimed with mock surprise.

Halt face palmed then got serious.

"Gilan come on we have got to go and now," he said. This was strange, super strange. Halt never acted this way, Gilan was starting to get freaked out, but this was just the start.

When the rangers got to the cabin they instantly dismounted, they happened to both dismount the same way, causing them (okay mainly Gilan) to stumble. Once they got inside Gilan was about to sit down when Halt yanked the chair out from under him.

"Hey what was that-"

"Go get packed we are going to the ranger grounds to meet some people then on the mission," Gilan was about to ask what the mission was, but decide Halt wasn't in the mood.

Gilan walked into his room packed a few things absent mindedly, too freaked out to focus on anything. Gilan walked outside to get Blaze ready just to find Halt ready. The two soon set out to the ranger grounds for, what Gilan guessed, what would be a quite ride. He was probably right.

It was dark by the time they reached the ranger grounds. Gilan looked around, there was Crowley and a ranger named Aaron. Gilan had meet him before once but he didn't really know him. Judging by the look of experience and expertness he was a good fighter, Gilan was yet to know his personality

Aaron was also observing Gilan. He had heard many things about him. Most of them were good; the only bad one from a ranger was from Merlon, the rest of the bad ones were from villagers who knew little about rangers. Merlon understood Gilan would be a good addition on the mission, whatever it was, but also a pest; he had already had an apprentice. However he knew the pestering would make him happy. Apprentices were always up for an argument and judging by the devious look in his eyes he would be perfect. Hopefully Gilan was gullible too, that would be a bonus.

Normally they would sit there for hours on end until someone became impatient, but today this was important apparently.

"Just yesterday the king's 13 year old niece, Abby was kidnapped. All the information we have is that she was walking to the market and was never seen at the market and never came back." Crowley said.

Halt chewed on his lip. They couldn't look for foot prints too many people would have walked there, and it had rained last night.

"Is there any suspects?" Halt finally asked.

"There are a two. The first is Samuel Smith, who has been an enemy of the king since they were kids. The other suspect is Dan Walker, he has attempted to sabotage the royal family for years, but it is unknown why." Crowley said.

"Have there been any sightings?" Gilan asked just before Aaron asked his question.

"Do we know where Dan or Samuel live?" Aaron asked. If they did they would know what one did it depending on who was home or they could interrogate them.

The rangers sat in a silence, absorbing what they had learned. Finally Crowley stirred the pot of stew that Gilan had just realized was there. Soon the Rangers stood up and began setting up their tents.

By dinner time the rangers were having a good time and had almost forgotten about the mission. The stew was delicious, but when they got to the coffee, well that was a little different. Gilan had made the coffee and having only made it for two people before, he accidently measured wrong and made only three cups of coffee. Aaron had kindly let the others have the coffee well he waited for his. Of course this meant know good because, like all rangers, he loved coffee.

"Hey Gilan, thanks for the coffee" Aaron said picking up Gilan's coffee cup while Gilan stirred the coffee he was making for Aaron.

"Yeah, sure," Gilan said too zoned out to notice what was happening, just as Aaron had planned. And Gilan.

Gilan watched Aaron take a sip out of the corner of his eye. A second later he watched him spit it out. Gilan laughed.

"What did you put in that?"

"Just a secret ingredient called dirt, don't worry though I am making two more," Gilan said. All in all it was a good night.

After a night of good humor Crowley brought up the mission again.

"We are leaving tomorrow at first light,"

**So there it is, hope you liked it enough to review. Oh and a couple gullible jokes: did you know gullible isn't in the dictionary? If you say 'gullible' three times fast it sounds like 'rainbow'. Did you know gullible is written on the celling? Hahaha. Some of my friends fall for them several times others fall for them all right in a row. Oh and did you know you can't lick your elbow. That wasn****'t a gullible joke it's true you can even try. Review please! **


	5. Chapter 5saving Abby

**Hi I told you this update would be faster. It would have been faster but I have this story my other RA story, Ava. Also I just started a story on fictionpress called '2012 the World's end' (I'm Keira-22 on there too just in case you want to read that story, which would be soooo awesome) anyway so here is the story. **

**Saving Abby chapter 5**

Gilan had last shift, he was so tired. Last night he couldn't sleep at all, Gilan looked at the sky to see the light peeking through the trees. Soon enough everyone was up, they didn't say it, but most of them hadn't slept a minute, they were all ready to get the mission going.

"I was looking through my papers and I found the addresses, Samuel's house is closer so we will go there first. He lives in in Caraway fief, Dan lives in Sea Cliff fief."

"Let's go then," Halt said.

After hours of riding the rangers finally stopped for lunch. The lunch was very short and quite. The only time someone talked was to say "let's go" and that was the most talkative, Halt, of course. Whoa, Crowley thought sarcastically, that is two sentences in one day for Halt.

In Gilan's opinion riding horses was amazing, but not when you were on a mission, you were always in such a hurry riding on missions. When Gilan was on missions he always felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve except this 'Christmas eve' lasted days. Well, and the fact that he had a chance of dying, but let's forget that part. It was annoying how knights got all the attention and credit, Gil thought, but he had to admit that if he did get all that attention he would freak out. Gilan thought that Dan had kidnapped Abby. Speaking of which, Gilan had seen Abby many times at formal dinners. Abby's parents were both dead, she would be at the ward as an orphan, but since she was the king's niece she lived in the castle. She had told Gilan she hated living in the castle, Gilan agreed with her. Gilan hoped Abby was alright, what if when they got there it was already too late? It was probably a good thing Halt couldn't read minds because if he did Gilan wouldn't even be allowed to think. That could be bad if Gilan was shooting and couldn't think-

"Samuel's house is only a few meters away," Crowley said, dragging Gilan from his thoughts. "We will walk the rest of the way,"

The four rangers dismounted and began to walk, without thinking they blended into the trees and shadow unseen. When they reached the house there were no signs of anyone being home, but, just in case, they went in to investigate. After investigating the house they noticed that there were only a few things left behind.

"So it was Samuel?" Gilan asked.

"Most likely, but we need more proof first. Now we have to ask around and see if anyone knows anything else. We will wait here while Aaron goes to investigate," Halt said. When Gilan looked at Aaron, he had already token his cloak of, Gilan was about to ask why when Halt answered his question.

"Aaron is going to frame as a trader so people will be more likely to talk to him,"

Aaron walked up to the first house; it was a big white farmhouse. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Finally a man came to the door, he was about 40 years old, and his hair was almost completely gray. His scars showed of his hard work.

"Yes?" the man asked suspiciously.

"I'm Aaron; I was supposed to trade some of my jewels with Samuel," Aaron said. When he said 'Samuel' the man's hand went to the wound on his nose. "But Samuel isn't home. I was wondering if you knew where he was."

"Samuel left yesterday. He stole two of my horses, he did. He left at about six; don't think he'll be coming back for a while. You be lucky though, Samuel is a bad man. He killed me son and gave me this here wound," the farmer said.

"Thank you," Aaron said and handed the man some money. Aaron visited several other houses and received the same information.

"So?" Crowley said as Aaron approached.

"Well I'm almost broke, but I did find out some information. He left around six two nights ago, he stole two horses and that's all." Aaron said.

"I'm thinking we go to Dan's house just to make sure it is Samuel," Halt said.

"Sounds good," Crowley said. The four left unseen, or so they thought.

**There it is. If you like it what do you do? Review! If you don't like it what do you do? Review! Like I said before, If you review I will read your story. I will try to get a chapter up on Christmas** **and a chapter and New Year's Eve.** **Oh and if you get bored read my other rangers apprentice fanfiction story 'Ava'. Or read my fictionpress story '12-12-12 the World end' I am keira-22 on there too. It is the perfect time to read a story about the world ending right before 2012, but if the world ends, which it's not I'm not **_**that**_** gullible, it probably won't be as awesome as it is in my story, 'cuz I mean in my story it looks fun. Lol 8D now you can review (please) **


	6. Chapter 6: Ghost towns

**Hey sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I should be updating more soon, and it should be even better. Thx for reading and please review! **

**Chapter 6: Ghost towns **

The moon stuck out of the sky like a warrior among rangers. Aaron took in the night scenery; it was beautiful. The sky was covered with brightly glowing stars. He loved the night, so silent and the air was so fresh at night, there was no other way to describe it. Aaron scanned the area once more; this time looking for intruders. There was nobody there-

_Crack_

Aaron quickly shook the others awake.

"wha-" Gilan began, but Aaron put a finger over his mouth.

"I heard a branch snap," in an undertone. Halt nodded then told everyone he would take the shift now and told them to go to sleep seeing as nobody would be pursuing them yet.

It was yet another sleepless night; in fact, Crowley had stayed up all night and could hardly believe it when he saw the first rays of light seeping through the trees. He stood up and yawned, happy to see Halt was already making breakfast.

"Good morning," Gilan finally said, giving up on feigning sleep.

"Oy, Shut up, I was sleeping," Aaron grumbled, Gil rolled his eyes in disbelief. Halt passed out meat, bread, and dried fruit. Gilan frowned.

"What, no coffee?" Crowley complained, also noting it's absents.

"Can't risk a fire," The four rangers ate quickly and set off to Dan's house. Halt rode up ahead and Crowley back behind.

"Do you think Abby will be okay?" Gilan finally asked Aaron.

"You know her don't you?" Aaron said after studying him for a minute.

"A little bit, but you didn't answer me," Aaron bit his lip then replied

"I don't know. Let's hope so," Suddenly Halt stopped and signaled for the others to come up ahead.

"Wonder what happened," Aaron said.

"Maybe were there," Gilan replied hopefully, ready to be done with this mission.

"No we still have a good four hours left," Aaron said, not knowing what to expect.

"There is a town up ahead, Aaron can go up ahead, as usual, and ask if they have seen anything funny," Halt explained as the three approached. Everyone nodded as Aaron nudged his horse, Shooter, forward. Aaron took a deep breath and got his story straight; he was looking for his friends and was wondering if anyone had seen them go by. He dismounted Shooter, walked up to the first house, and knocked. It was a two story white farm house; the door was made of oak with a rusty door knob. There was no porch; there were only a few roughly built wooden steps that Aaron did not trust entirely. After a few minutes of waiting Aaron decided to check the next house.

This one was a log house; it looked strikingly like a ranger cabin. Aaron knocked on the door, but once again there was no answer. He continued on until he had checked ten more houses with no avail. Aaron went back across the hastily built road that was really no more than a path.

"Nobody is there I check every house with no luck, should we look inside?" Aaron said.

"Strange," Halt replied "Yes, we should check inside," The four mounted their horses and rode up to the first house. They got in easily without even having to pick the lock for the door wasn't locked at all. There were plates and cups sitting on the table with a new growth of mold and the coats were still hanging on the coat rack still. The occupants had clearly left in haste. After checking the whole house Crowley finally spoke:

"Let's check the next house," So the four walked out to find the door to the next house unlocked also. Once again there were eggs sitting out slightly covered with mold complimented by a thin layer of dust. This time though, there was a dead body. The man must have been eating when an unexpected visitor came. In the kitchen there was a mix of blood and milk on the ground. It appeared that the women had been pouring milk and carrying her baby when she had been shot; even the baby had an arrow protruding from its chest.

"That's vile!" Gilan exclaimed "Why would they want to kill a baby?" Halt merely nodded in agreement, it was the only sign of emotion he had ever shown in front of Gilan

"We need to split up: Halt and I will find Abby and you two find out anything you can about this then go and get help. Don't do anything stupid," Crowley said. Halt personally thought the second part was pointless; it would be nearly impossible to stop Gilan and Aaron from doing something stupid. Aaron and Gilan nodded. Then they all walked out, thankful to get away from that dreadful scene.

"Come on; we need to find footprints, if we can," Aaron said after Halt and Crowley had left, Gilan nodded and the two began looking for footprints.

"There are too many foot prints, this is no use," Gilan said an hour later.

"I know; let's just go over what we know quickly then we'll look around on our way to the castle," Aaron said and Gilan nodded

"Okay so there were about twelve or more attackers they attacked two or three days ago and that's all really," Aaron said "Anything else you can think of?" Gilan shook his head.

"Okay then let's go that way," Aaron said pointing left, towards the path "Okay?"

"Okay," Aaron started riding that way when suddenly Gilan noticed something and yelled out:

"Wait- I think I found where they went," Aaron abruptly turned around and went back. Sure enough there was an impression in the grass and brush that showed there had been nearly twenty people and quite a few horses that had come through. There was a clear attempt to cover up the path, and it would have worked even on the rangers if Gilan hadn't had that stroke of luck.

"Well let's get going and see what we can find out," Aaron said and the two set of down the path, but Gilan had the slightest feeling that he was being watched.

**Well there it is hope you liked it please review.**


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